//------------------------------// // 3. Daybreak // Story: Time to Shine // by Easysnuggler //------------------------------// “In those vaults preserved on pages that never rot lie tens of thousands of volumes. Side, front, and top pictures of griffons and alicorns fill the books. Some look like zebras but with wings and horns. Celestia said they are breed registries and did not elaborate. Luna merely cried. Alicorns alone know how to read the text.” —Pena “On the Origins of Ponies*(*and Others) and Magic” 3. Daybreak The morning meditation to find the inner dragon was led by the ancient All-Watcher Tarnish himself. Afterwards, the homily that the grizzled old lizard gave focused on the story of the heroes of the exodus and the sacrifices and many conflicts and bargains they had made to escape from faerie bondage to return to the land of Equestria. Prioress Doriz and the other priests and priestesses from the temple warren shook tambourines and clashed cymbals at appropriate times as the dramatic story unfolded. The service was soon over, and another day began as the kobolds headed to work. Rizi, a large green kobold with a long tail and orange eyes viewed the clawfull of miners heading underground with envy. Still, hunting and gathering were much better than her old job of burial detail where every day just brought more sadness and shame. The dragons were slowly dying and had been for hundreds of years. The kobolds were apparently helpless to do more than just honor the dead. Each new burial felt like a defeat. Sill, hunter was (in her opinion) better than trap maker, and she had no talent as a caregiver. Hatchlings were cute but dealing with them was tedious. Working in the bright sunlight was unpleasant but her goggles helped. At least the sun was warm. They worked in the day outside, because the things that hunted and haunted in the night of the Dragonholme range were not all warm blooded. Seeing heat at night was useless against such threats. Kobold day vision was fair, but so long as one avoided looking at the sun one could see a long way off, even with the smoked glass goggles. The smaller fall-colored kobold twins Rain and Wind scrambled over the rocks hunting with little stabbing sticks as tiny creatures scampered back and forth trapped by the snowy rock of the bowl crater in which they hunted. Occasionally one called aloud when they caught some small lizard, rodent, insect, or a rare bird which they would then add to their collection. Rizi oversaw her clutch mates work all day. As the eldest, largest, and most experienced, it was her job to keep them safe. She kept her goggled eyes open to the sky and the horizon looking around for rocs, slingtails, or other signs of danger but today was quiet and cheerful. The day wore on, and as evening approached at last, she called to Rain and Wind “Enough, go down get cherries now, yes?” Rizi wanted to head by the cherry grove farther down the mountain before the sun went down completely. The chirping responses the little male and female kobold made showed they had heard and were climbing down. Rizi’s frame was a bit larger than either of them, although they had all been hatched around the same time. The foragers returned to North Warren after dropping off their food and fruit at the larder and said farewells. They split up to wash, rest and eat. Rizi soaked in the hot springs and rinsed in a clean mountain stream. She filed her claws and sharpened her spines, brushed oil on her scales, polished her two backward facing ivory head horns and ate. Long after moonrise and heading toward sleep Rizi found Prioress Doriz standing at the entrance to her little personal grotto, a small notch off the main residence hall. Doriz was dressed in her pointed wide brimmed hat, robes, and cape. Her scaly green arms were crossed, and a slightly disapproving expression sat upon her snout. Her orange eyes met Rizi’s own. “We’ve been waiting for you Rizi Quiet”, she said using the collective we. This was an official visit apparently. Doriz was the Prioress of the tribe and she spoke little. Some said she was cheerier before her chosen one West had met his heroic death at the claws of a roc. The elders said West had sacrificed himself to save Ashley's little dragon whelp Dust. They still told stories about the bravery he showed that night. Rizi couldn’t picture it happening the way they said but didn’t entirely disbelieve it. Dust, now a grown dragon and presently the second largest of those awake, treated the kobolds and Doriz with more respect than was customary for a dragon, so maybe there was something to the tall tale after all. Servants rather than slaves. She was nice. Well, as nice as any dragon could be to kobolds without being harassed over it. Most of the clan seemed to hold the opinion that Rizi had been Doriz's egg and Doriz was both bright green and the largest Kobold female. Plus, they both had orange eyes, but many Kobolds had those. Though no one else had a Prioress poking her snout into everything they did. Kobolds had communal hatcheries, and parenting was done in common, primarily by caregivers, nannies who never found fault with Rizi’s work. Unlike Doriz who often seemed to take an interest in Rizi’s apparently numerous failings, and occasionally tersely criticized and corrected her. It was exasperating. “Prioress Doriz, was waiting here for Rizi?” “Don’t give us any snark, little Rizi”. She waited. She eyed Rizi suspiciously as if she were expecting sass. Rizi remained quiet. “Triple Draco conjunction foretells a sudden journey.” This elicited no comment. The seers of the Prioress were often alarmingly correct in their visions, so Rizi listened attentively. Warnings and astrological signs were for seers like Doriz to unravel, not hunters like Rizi. But why had the Prioress come herself? “Draco dawn, moon hatching on your hachday.” Ahh, they thought some horoscope they had seen involved her. Maybe she would be assigned different work again? She was happy doing what she was and didn’t want eggs or even a casual mate. She hoped this involved neither. Doriz would doubtless get to her point soon. “A shooting star fell to Sparkles Folly”. Doriz pointed to the west. After a long moment Doriz went on. “Bright green color like us, little Rizi.” Rizi blinked at that. “Changes are coming soon Rizi, be ready.” Rizi nodded her head. Doriz stared into her identical orange eyes a moment longer, turned on her heel and walked away tail swishing. Rizi stared after her. It was more words all together than Rizi had heard the Prioress use in a year. Travel was silly. The dragons were all here after all. Why go? She shook her head. It might be nice to see the world, but her place was where the dragons wanted her.